Angel with Callused Hands
by Lieutenant Caine
Summary: A single tender moment...


**Angel with Callused Hands**

**A/N I'm not sure if this can rightly be called a complete story or just a vignette, but I was moved to tears at the picture that prompted it, and I had to write. I'll not elaborate, but if any of my readers saw the same photo online last week, they will immediately remember it as they read this and will understand.**

The call came in shortly before noon, and Eric and Calleigh jumped into the Hummer and drove toward what dispatch called a scene with multiple fatalities. Daily contact with crime had somewhat inured them to the shock of seeing murder victims, but this time even years of crime scene investigation left them totally unprepared for what they would find. Their first warning that it was a bloodbath inside the single story bungalow type dwelling was the young officer who stood next to his car in the street, doubled over and vomiting. Tears ran down his face and he made no attempt to stop them.

"That's not a good sign." Eric said, looking at the officer with of sympathy in his eyes.

"Better gear up for the worst." Calleigh agreed.

Hearing the voices from behind him, the young officer attempted to straighten up and look presentable. He failed miserably. His hair was mussed and his face was frighteningly pale. Tears streaked his cheeks and flecks of vomit and spittle clung to the corners of his mouth. He was the epitome of absolute misery.

"I'm…I'm sorry. I just wasn't ready to see that…So much…" his lip quivered. "So much blood, and the babies…"

Tenderhearted as she was, Calleigh stepped briefly to the side of the distraught and sickened officer and patted him softly on the back. "You hang in there. We've all felt the same way at one time or another. Don't be ashamed."

"Thank you," he said, as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks.

Turning around, Calleigh rejoined Eric and took a deep breath, trying to prepare herself for whatever awaited them. If it was bad enough to completely undo a uniformed officer, it must be bad.

She had no idea just how bad it was.

Once inside the house, Calleigh and Eric were almost overwhelmed at the smell of blood that assailed them.

"Whew…there must be rivers of blood for the smell to be that strong…" Eric choked out as he held his shirt collar over his nose in an attempt to block out the sickening odor.

When they rounded the corner from the foyer into the living area, they were shocked into absolute mobility for several moments.

The first victim lay sprawled on the floor in an awkward position. Her head was almost severed from her body and her naked torso was riddled with too many stab wounds to count at first glance. The carpet beneath her body was saturated with blood. A few feet away lay the body of a juvenile male. Again the head was almost completely separated from the body. One arm lay flung toward the female as though a final attempt had been made to get to her side. Most likely this was the mother and a son.

Stepping gingerly, Calleigh and Eric continued down the hall toward the bedroom and found an even more disturbing sight. The first bedroom had obviously belonged to a juvenile female. The walls were painted with a soft pink and decorated with pictures of ballet dancers. The décor was marred by the hideous blood splatters that reached from floor to ceiling. Lying on the bed was their third victim. She too had been almost decapitated, and her tiny head lay at an awkward angle from her mutilated body.

Calleigh pressed her hand to her lips to stifle the sob that sprang into her throat. Mist clouded her eyes and she turned for a moment to block out the horrifying sight.

"Easy, Cal." Eric too was almost overwhelmed at the mute evidence of the violence unleashed on their victims. "Take it easy."

At that moment, Horatio appeared in the hall behind them, his face grim and slightly ashen. He did not miss the telltale signs of distress on Calleigh's face. Stepping in close he gently invaded her personal space and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You okay to continue, Cal?"

"I'm okay. It's just the kids…"

"I know." Horatio agreed, his hand still resting comfortingly on Cal's shoulder. "How about…how about you go back to the Hummer and bring me my kit? Can you do that for me?"

Calleigh started to argue, but knew that he was offering her a moment to collect herself and continue the job, so she gratefully accepted his gesture. She turned and went back outside, leaving Eric and Horatio to continue on through the house with their grisly discoveries. When she returned with Horatio's kit, the look on his face confirmed that there were yet more bodies in the same condition.

"How many more?" she said with a deep sigh.

"Three more victims, one of them a toddler and the perpetrator as well." Horatio answered. "Seven in all. We found," he began and then stopped suddenly at a sound from the very back of the house.

Easing out his weapon, Horatio motioned toward the source of the sound and began walking slowly toward the last door at the end of the hallway just off the living area. It was only a closet, but the noise was definitely coming from inside. Keeping his gun trained on the door, he reached out and slowly wrapped his hand around the knob and then jerked it open.

The sound was indeed coming from inside and it originated from an infant that lay on the floor, partly hidden behind a pair of rain boots and an umbrella. The tiny thing was sniffling and working itself up to a good cry. Someone had wrapped it in a black and pink blanket and had obviously tried to hide it from the murderous onslaught that had been unleashed on its family. A bottle lay just out of its reach.

Swiftly Horatio holstered his weapon and knelt down, picking the baby up and cuddling it into his arms, blanket and all. He snagged the bottle from the floor and stood up, rocking the infant gently to soothe it.

"There now, shhh little man. You're safe," he crooned softly. He looked up into Calleigh's eyes and almost smiled. "We need a bus. And have Alexx standing by at Dade Memorial."

"I'm on it," Calleigh responded.

Her heart warmed at the sight of Horatio holding the baby so tenderly in his arms, as though he'd been holding babies all his life. She knew she'd never forget that image as long as she lived.

When she hung up, she turned back to see Horatio still holding the baby, his concentration focused solely on the tiny life in his arms.

_What a tender moment in the middle of a horrible tragedy, _she thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXx

Much later that evening, as Calleigh was cleaning up to leave the office, Horatio stopped by to check on her before he called it a night.

"Hey," he called out quietly so as not to startle her.

"Hey, yourself." She countered.

The moment lingered and so Horatio stepped inside and looked deeply into the eyes of his ballistics expert.

"You okay after today?" It seemed the most natural thing in the world when he took both of her hands in his for a moment, holding them close and warm.

"Yeah. I'm okay." Calleigh looked up into his eyes and tilted her head a bit in an endearing mirror image of his habit. "How about you?"

A smile lightened his face. "I'm okay, Cal. I'm okay."

"You know," Calleigh said softly, "… you know it's not every day a girl sees a real live angel."

"Angel?" Horatio's voice was puzzled.

"Yes, you, Handsome. You were an angel today with that baby."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Sweetheart, but you know I'm no angel. Far from it in fact."

"Ah, but you are, Horatio Caine. You are an angel. To some you are an avenging angel. To some you are an angel of justice. To some you are an angel of punishment. And to others you are an angel of mercy." Calleigh stopped for a moment and then stood up on tiptoe and brushed a softy kiss over Horatio's cheek, before continuing, "And to me, you are simply my very own loving angel and I love you with all my heart."

"Sweetheart…"

"Angel…"

FIN


End file.
